Makinde: The Fear in APC’s Response
The All Progressives Congress’ recent attack on the Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, for openly saying the obvious, belies logic and could be the beginning of its major undoing, writes Shola Oyeyipo
Fear as an intelligent response to challenges could be situation specific. It is basic knowledge, and this ideology is rooted in human evolutionary biology.
In survival mechanism, for instance, fear is a natural response to danger. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, and prepares the body to either confront or escape from threats. This has been crucial for survival throughout human history.
In the event of risk assessment, fear helps the individual to assess risks and make informed decisions. Feeling fear when faced with the possibility of a financial loss could prompt someone to reevaluate investments or spending habits.
There’s the fear that leans to preventing Harm. In this case,fear could encourage caution in potentially harmful situations, such as not approaching a wild animal or avoiding dangerous areas.
This intuitive form of self-protection is essential for safety. Close to this, however, is the alertness to dangers. In unfamiliar environments, for example, fear heightens awareness, which allows individuals to notice overlook.
Many more instances that could explain fears as an intelligent response in their respective circumstances abound. But the interesting thing about intelligent response to fear is that it leaves an experience from which one could learn and ultimately live with, as one of life’s takeaways. It helps to see the reality of the situation and nudges the individual to doing better next time.
Unfortunately, what should have been the ruling All Progressives Congress’ intelligent response to the fear the Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, drew its attention to, ended up exposing its hypocrisy and innate intolerance for truth.
The brickbats between supporters of Makinde and those of the government of the APC at the centre had been everything but an interesting episode to follow. When the stark reality of the nation’s state of play stares everyone in the face, the APC still loathes to be confronted with the obvious.
Living a lie, many political observers have often argued, is the signature lifestyle of the APC. But how this is intended to corrupt patriotism and rob the unsuspecting of sincere leadership, is what a majority of the people have yet to comprehend, when indeed, this was meant to awaken the ruling party to the reality of all that is at stake.
Penultimate Saturday at the commissioning of the late Olusoji Adagunodo zonal secretariat of the party in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Makinde, said the 2027 general election would be between the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Nigerian people. This is too simplistic to stir any controversy.
But he didn’t stop there, Makinde, who added that his next political agenda would be determined solely by himself, explained that, Nigerians would be the ones to determine the next leadership of the country, and therefore urged PDP leaders to look inward, work together, and salvage the country.
“The next election will be APC versus Nigerians. It is not even about APC versus PDP. So, let us do our bit to unite our party and our base, and let the people of Nigeria speak.Nobody apart from myself can set an agenda for my political career.
“People have been complaining. They have been talking. They have been making a lot of speculations. Let me say this again, and I will say it myself: nobody will set an agenda for me apart from myself.
“They have also been talking, the ruling party and other parties. Let me say this: if you are accusing the ruling party of interfering with other parties to prevent them from uniting and forming a strong opposition for 2027, my position is that there are certain things within our control.
“Whether Governor Adeleke and I will cooperate for the growth and benefit of our party in the South-West is beyond the ruling party. It is between me and Governor Adeleke. So,please, let us work together and unite our base; that is all we need to do,” he said.
Without a doubt, the next election is not a walk in the park for any of the political parties, let alone the ruling APC. Nigerians, home and abroad, would determine who rules Nigeria next and that’s evident, based on the subsisting reality in the country today.
Yet, and typically, the APC didn’t receive this well. Rather than see it for what it was, it thought Makinde and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were about to set it up against the people for failure. In no time, the PDP went all out with its ballistic but failed missiles.
National spokesperson of the APC, Felix Morka, in his response, first asked Makinde to focus on his primary duty, adding that the governor and PDP leaders should take full responsibility for the party’s “implosion and decay.”
His words: “He should not point accusing fingers at APC for the rot in his party. Makinde has become the leading but rather shoddy drummer for his 2027 political ambition.
“While our democracy affords Makinde the liberty to pursue his political aspirations, however, engaging in reckless executive flippancy at the expense of the job he was elected to do as governor is a disservice to the good people of Oyo State.
“They should take full responsibility for their disgraceful failure to handle the party’s implosion and decay. Instead of prioritising the needs of Oyo people who elected him to tackle their local issues, he has chosen to divert his attention.
“Makinde must know that Nigeria’s scale and complexities demand more than his vain and self-indulgent ambition. He cannot even speak for the people of Oyo State regarding their future electoral choices or decisions, let alone speak for Nigerians.
“If Makinde knew how to keep APC’s influence at bay, then why has he not employed that strategy to ‘protect’ his party nationally? Like the proverbial bad workman, who blames his tools.
“Makinde’s unhinged 2027 ambition cannot be founded upon his unguarded and unjustified attacks against our great Party or the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that has launched the boldest and most ambitious reform effort in history to transform our country’s economy and build a solid foundation for progress.”
Quite strangely, the PDP was not going to let APC get away with this, much less allow it engage any propaganda machine to weep up sentiments.
It was the national leadership of the PDP that first served a salvo, describing the APC as a party of “political vampires” that thrives on the suffering of Nigerians.
Dismissing the APC statement as an “arrogant and reckless” attack on Makinde, the party in its response by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, called on the APC to “end its charade, accept its failures, and prepare for political retirement.”
The PDP argued that Makinde had been an outspoken advocate for Nigerians, voicing the frustrations of citizens impacted by the APC’s governance. It denounced the APC attack and characterised it as a desperate attempt to silence criticism of its policies.
The Oyo wing of the party also hopped on the fray in a statement by its acting Publicity Secretary, Michael Ogunsina.
While noting that democracy is about politicians meeting the people at the polls, he asked: “Why is the APC afraid of meeting the people at the polls in 2027? A party that has been doing the will of the people would thank Governor Makinde for pairing it with the people.
“But the sinner will run when nobody is pursuing them. The APC is that sinner. It shall not go unpunished. We believe that the APC statement was very unnecessary, wrongly directed and wrongly themed.
“If the APC and its federal government are doing well and the people are happy with them why would they see Makinde’s statement as an attack on their government? It is our belief that to whom much is given, so much is expected.
“Nigerians invested their mandate and hope in the APC in the 2023 elections. From what the people have seen so far, it is clear that the only thing dear to the heart of the APC is to inflict pain and more pain on the people while its leaders revel in unconscionable enjoyment.”
Interestingly, none of the back and forth has deterred the Oyo governor, who Thursday, came out again to urge PDP chieftains to ensure unity within the party by not allowing individual presidential ambitions to cause division.
“A lot has been said about the PDI (Peoples Democratic Institute) and its origins. But what do we want to be remembered for? This is the essence and significance of today. Abba Moro has said that since 1998, he has benefitted from the PDP.
“I, too, have benefitted since 2019. I want to thank our great party and all the stakeholders here today for giving me the opportunity to secure not one, but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.
“The only thing I can promise is that, having drawn from this well, I will not pollute it when it is time for me to leave office. The journey here has not been easy, but I am grateful that we have overcome many obstacles.
“However, since the 2015 elections, things have only gone from bad to worse. As we face the next level of economic instability and renewed troubles, the PDP must offer real hope for Nigeria. Our country needs direction, and Nigerians are looking to the PDP for an ideological foundation,” he said.
Makinde spoke during the official inauguration of the Board of Governors and the unveiling of the roadmap for the PDI at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
His appeal followed unceasing concerns from different quarters that the presidential ambitions of some people, including himself, could escalate internal divisions within the party, and potentially derail the ongoing reconciliation efforts led by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led committee.
Taken together, one critical takeaway from that PDI event is that the PDP has realised the strength in unity and seemed to have learned from its mistakes, especially of the recent past.
For a Makinde, who some people believed played a role in what led the PDP to where it is today, having leaned on the opposition presidential candidate against his party’s, it is understandable why he is taking the honourable path to mending paths with his party.
This does not mean the storm is automatically over, but the path to healing might have begun, and clearly so, particularly the willingness of the party to look away from the self-inflicted mistakes of the past and take advantage of its inherent strength through unity to seize the future it sees ahead of itself.
It’s okay if the ruling APC chooses to feign and see only what is now being referred to as borrowed confidence, but the fear in its response to Makinde has not only exposed it, but made its road to 2027 rough, dangerous, undulating and uncertain.
